Dual server system for sending a large email attachment

ABSTRACT

An electronic device with a touch-sensitive surface and display can execute a messaging application. The messaging application provides options for sending a message with a large attachment. In one option it allows for sending a message with a large attachment by uploading and storing the attachment on a cloud server, embeds a link to the storage location in the message, and sends the message without the attachment. The messaging application may also include a UI element in the message that includes an indicator about the status of the stored attachment. Furthermore, the messaging application may embed in the message a smaller sized version of the attachment before sending the message. The status indicator may display whether the link to the storage location has expired or whether the attachment has previously been retrieved from the cloud server.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The application claims the benefit of Provisional Application No.62/006,210, filed on Jun. 1, 2014, the content of which is incorporatedherein by reference.

BACKGROUND

1. Field of Technology

The embodiments herein generally relate to sending messages that includelarge-sized attachments between electronic devices, including deviceswith touch screen displays. More particularly, the embodiments relate touser interfaces and gestures on such devices for sending these messages.

2. Background

As multimedia and other social media is shared among many users ofelectronic computing devices, sending messages between users, whichinclude large multimedia attachments, is becoming increasingly popular.With the increased demand for email bandwidth, many email providers areimposing a size limitation on the email messages that users can sendusing the providers' services. Large multimedia or content files aretherefore shared through file-sharing services, but not by includingthese files into email messages. A user's experience in sending emailsis therefore complicated because of the inconvenience of having toinvoke two or more separate services to deliver a message that includeslarge sized materials such as movies, high resolution photos,presentations and archives.

SUMMARY

An electronic device with a touch-sensitive surface and display canexecute a messaging application configured to manage emails with largeattachments. Computer-implemented methods, a device includinginstructions or means for performing any of the methods, and a computerreadable storage medium including instruction to perform any of themethods are disclosed.

In one embodiment, a device executing a messaging application receives arequest to send an email message. In response to receiving the request,the device determines whether the size of the attachment exceeds athreshold. In response to determining that the size exceeds thethreshold, the device sends a request to a server for uploading theattachment to the server. In response to receiving a positiveconfirmation from the server to the uploading request, the deviceprovides an option to upload the attachment to the server and to embedin the email message a link to the location of the attachment on theserver. And in response to receiving a selection of the upload and embedoption, the device adds an UI element and a version of the attachment tothe email message, where the UI element comprises the link to thelocation of the attachment on the cloud server, and wherein the versionhas a size smaller than the threshold. The device sends the emailmessage.

In another embodiment, a device receives a request to store anattachment of an email message. In response to receiving the request,the device determines whether the size of the attachment exceeds athreshold. In accordance with a determination that the size exceeds thethreshold, the device calculates storage space at a location that isconfigured to store the attachment that is based on storage parameters.In accordance with a determination that the storage space is sufficientto store the attachment, the device sends a first confirmation thatcomprising a link to the location and validity information.

In yet another embodiment, a device receives an email message thatcomprises a link to a location of an attachment associated with theemail message on a server and validity information of the link. Inresponse to an action opening the email message, the device determineswhether the link is valid; and in response to an action selecting thelink to the location of the attachment and in accordance with adetermination that the link is valid, it sends a request to the serverto retrieve the attachment. The device then retrieves the attachmentfrom the server and upon retrieving the attachment, updates the validityinformation of the link to indicate that the attachment has beenretrieved from the server, and stores the email message with the updatedvalidity information and with the attachment being embedded within theemail message.

In one embodiment, a device receives an email message comprising a linkto a location of an attachment associated with the email on a server andvalidity information of the link. Upon receiving a selection of the linkto the location of the attachment and the link being valid, it sends arequest to the server to retrieve the attachment. Upon determining thatthe attachment has been retrieved from the server, the device updatesthe visible indication of the validity status to indicate that theattachment has been retrieved from the server.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

For a better understanding of the various described embodiments,reference should be made to the Description of Embodiments below, inconjunction with the following drawings in which like reference numeralsrefer to corresponding parts throughout the figures.

FIG. 1A is a block diagram illustrating a portable multifunction devicewith a touch-sensitive display in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 1B is a block diagram illustrating exemplary components for eventhandling in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 2 illustrates a portable multifunction device having a touch screenin accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an exemplary multifunction device with adisplay and a touch-sensitive surface in accordance with someembodiments.

FIG. 4A illustrates an exemplary user interface for a menu ofapplications on a portable multifunction device in accordance with someembodiments.

FIG. 4B illustrates an exemplary user interface for a multifunctiondevice with a touch-sensitive surface that is separate from the displayin accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 5 illustrates a network diagram of devices and servers used forsending email messages with large attachments, according to oneembodiment.

FIG. 6 illustrates a landscape view of icons for applications of thedevice, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 7 illustrates an application view of an email application,according to one embodiment.

FIGS. 8A and 8B illustrate gestures for and methods of composing amessage including a large attachment in an application view of an emailapplication, according to some embodiments.

FIG. 9 illustrates a flowchart for sending a message including a largeattachment, according to one embodiment.

FIGS. 10A-D illustrate send options in the email application, accordingto some embodiments.

FIGS. 11A-D illustrate application views of messages including anembedded link to an attachment stored on a cloud servers and downloadgestures, according to some embodiments.

FIG. 12 illustrates a sequence of download indicators in the messageview of an email message, according to some embodiments.

FIGS. 13A-C illustrate application views including messages with variousUI elements and download indicators, according to some embodiments.

FIGS. 14A-C illustrate gestures for and methods of forwarding of amessage including one or more large attachments in an application viewof an email application, according to some embodiments.

FIG. 15 illustrates a composition view of a forwarded message includingone or more large attachments, according to one embodiment.

FIGS. 16A-C illustrate application views of forwarded messages includingan embedded link to an attachment stored on a cloud servers and downloadgestures, according to some embodiments.

The figures depict, and the detail description describes, variousnon-limiting embodiments for purposes of illustration only. One skilledin the art will readily recognize from the following discussion thatalternative embodiments of the structures and methods illustrated hereinmay be employed without departing from the principles described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Exemplary Devices

Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments, examples of whichare illustrated in the accompanying drawings. In the following detaileddescription, numerous specific details are set forth in order to providea thorough understanding of the various described embodiments. However,it will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that the variousdescribed embodiments may be practiced without these specific details.In other instances, well-known methods, procedures, components,circuits, and networks have not been described in detail so as not tounnecessarily obscure aspects of the embodiments.

It will also be understood that, although the terms first, second, etc.are, in some instances, used herein to describe various elements, theseelements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only usedto distinguish one element from another. For example, a first contactcould be termed a second contact, and, similarly, a second contact couldbe termed a first contact, without departing from the scope of thevarious described embodiments. The first contact and the second contactare both contacts, but they are not the same contact.

The terminology used in the description of the various describedembodiments herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting. As used in thedescription of the various described embodiments and the appendedclaims, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to includethe plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. It will also be understood that the term “and/or” as usedherein refers to and encompasses any and all possible combinations ofone or more of the associated listed items. It will be furtherunderstood that the terms “includes,” “including,” “comprises,” and/or“comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence ofstated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/orcomponents, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or moreother features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components,and/or groups thereof.

As used herein, the term “if” is, optionally, construed to mean “when”or “upon” or “in response to determining” or “in response to detecting,”depending on the context. Similarly, the phrase “if it is determined” or“if [a stated condition or event] is detected” is, optionally, construedto mean “upon determining” or “in response to determining” or “upondetecting [the stated condition or event]” or “in response to detecting[the stated condition or event],” depending on the context.

Embodiments of electronic devices, user interfaces for such devices, andassociated processes for using such devices are described. In someembodiments, the device is a portable communications device, such as amobile telephone, that also contains other functions, such as PDA and/ormusic player functions. Exemplary embodiments of portable multifunctiondevices include, without limitation, the iPhone®, iPod Touch®, and iPad®devices from Apple Inc. of Cupertino, Calif. Other portable electronicdevices, such as laptops or tablet computers with touch-sensitivesurfaces (e.g., touch screen displays and/or touch pads), are,optionally, used. It should also be understood that, in someembodiments, the device is not a portable communications device, but isa desktop computer with a touch-sensitive surface (e.g., a touch screendisplay and/or a touch pad).

In the discussion that follows, an electronic device that includes adisplay and a touch-sensitive surface is described. It should beunderstood, however, that the electronic device optionally includes oneor more other physical user-interface devices, such as a physicalkeyboard, a mouse and/or a joystick.

The device typically supports a variety of applications, such as one ormore of the following: a drawing application, a presentationapplication, a word processing application, a website creationapplication, a disk authoring application, a spreadsheet application, agaming application, a telephone application, a video conferencingapplication, an e-mail application, an instant messaging application, aworkout support application, a photo management application, a digitalcamera application, a digital video camera application, a web browsingapplication, a digital music player application, and/or a digital videoplayer application.

The various applications that are executed on the device optionally useat least one common physical user-interface device, such as thetouch-sensitive surface. One or more functions of the touch-sensitivesurface as well as corresponding information displayed on the deviceare, optionally, adjusted and/or varied from one application to the nextand/or within a respective application. In this way, a common physicalarchitecture (such as the touch-sensitive surface) of the deviceoptionally supports the variety of applications with user interfacesthat are intuitive and transparent to the user.

Attention is now directed toward embodiments of portable devices withtouch-sensitive displays. FIG. 1A is a block diagram illustratingportable multifunction device 100 with touch-sensitive displays 112 inaccordance with some embodiments. Touch-sensitive display 112 issometimes called a “touch screen” for convenience, and is sometimesknown as or called a touch-sensitive display system. Device 100 includesmemory 102 (which optionally includes one or more computer readablestorage mediums), memory controller 122, one or more processing units(CPU's) 120, peripherals interface 118, RF circuitry 108, audiocircuitry 110, speaker 111, microphone 113, input/output (I/O) subsystem106, other input or control devices 116, and external port 124. Device100 optionally includes one or more optical sensors 164. Device 100optionally includes one or more intensity sensors 165 for detectingintensity of contacts on device 100 (e.g., a touch-sensitive surfacesuch as touch-sensitive display system 112 of device 100). Device 100optionally includes one or more tactile output generators 167 forgenerating tactile outputs on device 100 (e.g., generating tactileoutputs on a touch-sensitive surface such as touch-sensitive displaysystem 112 of device 100 or touchpad 355 of device 300). Thesecomponents optionally communicate over one or more communication busesor signal lines 103.

As used in the specification and claims, the term “intensity” of acontact on a touch-sensitive surface refers to the force or pressure(force per unit area) of a contact (e.g., a finger contact) on the touchsensitive surface, or to a substitute (proxy) for the force or pressureof a contact on the touch sensitive surface. The intensity of a contacthas a range of values that includes at least four distinct values andmore typically includes hundreds of distinct values (e.g., at least256). Intensity of a contact is, optionally, determined (or measured)using various approaches and various sensors or combinations of sensors.For example, one or more force sensors underneath or adjacent to thetouch-sensitive surface are, optionally, used to measure force atvarious points on the touch-sensitive surface. In some implementations,force measurements from multiple force sensors are combined (e.g., aweighted average) to determine an estimated force of a contact.Similarly, a pressure-sensitive tip of a stylus is, optionally, used todetermine a pressure of the stylus on the touch-sensitive surface.Alternatively, the size of the contact area detected on thetouch-sensitive surface and/or changes thereto, the capacitance of thetouch-sensitive surface proximate to the contact and/or changes thereto,and/or the resistance of the touch-sensitive surface proximate to thecontact and/or changes thereto are, optionally, used as a substitute forthe force or pressure of the contact on the touch-sensitive surface. Insome implementations, the substitute measurements for contact force orpressure are used directly to determine whether an intensity thresholdhas been exceeded (e.g., the intensity threshold is described in unitscorresponding to the substitute measurements). In some implementations,the substitute measurements for contact force or pressure are convertedto an estimated force or pressure and the estimated force or pressure isused to determine whether an intensity threshold has been exceeded(e.g., the intensity threshold is a pressure threshold measured in unitsof pressure).

As used in the specification and claims, the term “tactile output”refers to physical displacement of a device relative to a previousposition of the device, physical displacement of a component (e.g., atouch-sensitive surface) of a device relative to another component(e.g., housing) of the device, or displacement of the component relativeto a center of mass of the device that will be detected by a user withthe user's sense of touch. For example, in situations where the deviceor the component of the device is in contact with a surface of a userthat is sensitive to touch (e.g., a finger, palm, or other part of auser's hand), the tactile output generated by the physical displacementwill be interpreted by the user as a tactile sensation corresponding toa perceived change in physical characteristics of the device or thecomponent of the device. For example, movement of a touch-sensitivesurface (e.g., a touch-sensitive display or trackpad) is, optionally,interpreted by the user as a “down click” or “up click” of a physicalactuator button. In some cases, a user will feel a tactile sensationsuch as an “down click” or “up click” even when there is no movement ofa physical actuator button associated with the touch-sensitive surfacethat is physically pressed (e.g., displaced) by the user's movements. Asanother example, movement of the touch-sensitive surface is, optionally,interpreted or sensed by the user as “roughness” of the touch-sensitivesurface, even when there is no change in smoothness of thetouch-sensitive surface. While such interpretations of touch by a userwill be subject to the individualized sensory perceptions of the user,there are many sensory perceptions of touch that are common to a largemajority of users. Thus, when a tactile output is described ascorresponding to a particular sensory perception of a user (e.g., an “upclick,” a “down click,” “roughness”), unless otherwise stated, thegenerated tactile output corresponds to physical displacement of thedevice or a component thereof that will generate the described sensoryperception for a typical (or average) user.

It should be appreciated that device 100 is only one example of aportable multifunction device, and that device 100 optionally has moreor fewer components than shown, optionally combines two or morecomponents, or optionally has a different configuration or arrangementof the components. The various components shown in FIG. 1A areimplemented in hardware, software, or a combination of both hardware andsoftware, including one or more signal processing and/or applicationspecific integrated circuits.

Memory 102 optionally includes high-speed random access memory andoptionally also includes non-volatile memory, such as one or moremagnetic disk storage devices, flash memory devices, or othernon-volatile solid-state memory devices. Access to memory 102 by othercomponents of device 100, such as CPU 120 and the peripherals interface118, is, optionally, controlled by memory controller 122.

Peripherals interface 118 can be used to couple input and outputperipherals of the device to CPU 120 and memory 102. The one or moreprocessors 120 run or execute various software programs and/or sets ofinstructions stored in memory 102 to perform various functions fordevice 100 and to process data. In some embodiments, peripheralsinterface 118, CPU 120, and memory controller 122 are, optionally,implemented on a single chip, such as chip 104. In some otherembodiments, they are, optionally, implemented on separate chips.

RF (radio frequency) circuitry 108 receives and sends RF signals, alsocalled electromagnetic signals. RF circuitry 108 converts electricalsignals to/from electromagnetic signals and communicates withcommunications networks and other communications devices via theelectromagnetic signals. RF circuitry 108 optionally includes well-knowncircuitry for performing these functions, including but not limited toan antenna system, an RF transceiver, one or more amplifiers, a tuner,one or more oscillators, a digital signal processor, a CODEC chipset, asubscriber identity module (SIM) card, memory, and so forth. RFcircuitry 108 optionally communicates with networks, such as theInternet, also referred to as the World Wide Web (WWW), an intranetand/or a wireless network, such as a cellular telephone network, awireless local area network (LAN) and/or a metropolitan area network(MAN), and other devices by wireless communication. The wirelesscommunication optionally uses any of a plurality of communicationsstandards, protocols and technologies, including but not limited toGlobal System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Enhanced Data GSMEnvironment (EDGE), high-speed downlink packet access (HSDPA),high-speed uplink packet access (HSUPA), Evolution, Data-Only (EV-DO),HSPA, HSPA+, Dual-Cell HSPA (DC-HSPDA), long term evolution (LTE), nearfield communication (NFC), wideband code division multiple access(W-CDMA), code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multipleaccess (TDMA), Bluetooth, Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) (e.g., IEEE 802.11a,IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g and/or IEEE 802.11n), voice over InternetProtocol (VoIP), Wi-MAX, a protocol for e-mail (e.g., Internet messageaccess protocol (IMAP) and/or post office protocol (POP)), instantmessaging (e.g., extensible messaging and presence protocol (XMPP),Session Initiation Protocol for Instant Messaging and PresenceLeveraging Extensions (SIMPLE), Instant Messaging and Presence Service(IMPS)), and/or Short Message Service (SMS), or any other suitablecommunication protocol, including communication protocols not yetdeveloped as of the filing date of this document.

Audio circuitry 110, speaker 111, and microphone 113 provide an audiointerface between a user and device 100. Audio circuitry 110 receivesaudio data from peripherals interface 118, converts the audio data to anelectrical signal, and transmits the electrical signal to speaker 111.Speaker 111 converts the electrical signal to human-audible sound waves.Audio circuitry 110 also receives electrical signals converted bymicrophone 113 from sound waves. Audio circuitry 110 converts theelectrical signal to audio data and transmits the audio data toperipherals interface 118 for processing. Audio data is, optionally,retrieved from and/or transmitted to memory 102 and/or RF circuitry 108by peripherals interface 118. In some embodiments, audio circuitry 110also includes a headset jack (e.g., 212, FIG. 2). The headset jackprovides an interface between audio circuitry 110 and removable audioinput/output peripherals, such as output-only headphones or a headsetwith both output (e.g., a headphone for one or both ears) and input(e.g., a microphone).

I/O subsystem 106 couples input/output peripherals on device 100, suchas touch screen 112 and other input control devices 116, to peripheralsinterface 118. I/O subsystem 106 optionally includes display controller156, optical sensor controller 158, intensity sensor controller 159,haptic feedback controller 161 and one or more input controllers 160 forother input or control devices. The one or more input controllers 160receive/send electrical signals from/to other input or control devices116. The other input control devices 116 optionally include physicalbuttons (e.g., push buttons, rocker buttons, etc.), dials, sliderswitches, joysticks, click wheels, and so forth. In some alternateembodiments, input controller(s) 160 are, optionally, coupled to any (ornone) of the following: a keyboard, infrared port, USB port, and apointer device such as a mouse. The one or more buttons (e.g., 208, FIG.2) optionally include an up/down button for volume control of speaker111 and/or microphone 113. The one or more buttons optionally include apush button (e.g., 206, FIG. 2).

Touch-sensitive display 112 provides an input interface and an outputinterface between the device and a user. Display controller 156 receivesand/or sends electrical signals from/to touch screen 112. Touch screen112 displays visual output to the user. The visual output optionallyincludes graphics, text, icons, video, and any combination thereof(collectively termed “graphics”). In some embodiments, some or all ofthe visual output corresponds to user-interface objects.

Touch screen 112 has a touch-sensitive surface, sensor or set of sensorsthat accepts input from the user based on haptic and/or tactile contact.Touch screen 112 and display controller 156 (along with any associatedmodules and/or sets of instructions in memory 102) detect contact (andany movement or breaking of the contact) on touch screen 112 andconverts the detected contact into interaction with user-interfaceobjects (e.g., one or more soft keys, icons, web pages or images) thatare displayed on touch screen 112. In an exemplary embodiment, a pointof contact between touch screen 112 and the user corresponds to a fingerof the user.

Touch screen 112 optionally uses LCD (liquid crystal display)technology, LPD (light emitting polymer display) technology, or LED(light emitting diode) technology, although other display technologiesare used in other embodiments. Touch screen 112 and display controller156 optionally detect contact and any movement or breaking thereof usingany of a plurality of touch sensing technologies now known or laterdeveloped, including but not limited to capacitive, resistive, infrared,and surface acoustic wave technologies, as well as other proximitysensor arrays or other elements for determining one or more points ofcontact with touch screen 112. In an exemplary embodiment, projectedmutual capacitance sensing technology is used, such as that found in theiPhone®, iPod Touch®, and iPad® from Apple Inc. of Cupertino, Calif.

Touch screen 112 optionally has a video resolution in excess of 100 dpi.In some embodiments, the touch screen has a video resolution ofapproximately 160 dpi. The user optionally makes contact with touchscreen 112 using any suitable object or appendage, such as a stylus, afinger, and so forth. In some embodiments, the user interface isdesigned to work primarily with finger-based contacts and gestures,which can be less precise than stylus-based input due to the larger areaof contact of a finger on the touch screen. In some embodiments, thedevice translates the rough finger-based input into a precisepointer/cursor position or command for performing the actions desired bythe user.

In some embodiments, in addition to the touch screen, device 100optionally includes a touchpad (not shown) for activating ordeactivating particular functions. In some embodiments, the touchpad isa touch-sensitive area of the device that, unlike the touch screen, doesnot display visual output. The touchpad is, optionally, atouch-sensitive surface that is separate from touch screen 112 or anextension of the touch-sensitive surface formed by the touch screen.

Device 100 also includes power system 162 for powering the variouscomponents. Power system 162 optionally includes a power managementsystem, one or more power sources (e.g., battery, alternating current(AC)), a recharging system, a power failure detection circuit, a powerconverter or inverter, a power status indicator (e.g., a light-emittingdiode (LED)) and any other components associated with the generation,management and distribution of power in portable devices.

Device 100 optionally also includes one or more optical sensors 164.FIG. 1A shows an optical sensor coupled to optical sensor controller 158in I/O subsystem 106. Optical sensor 164 optionally includescharge-coupled device (CCD) or complementary metal-oxide semiconductor(CMOS) phototransistors. Optical sensor 164 receives light from theenvironment, projected through one or more lens, and converts the lightto data representing an image. In conjunction with imaging module 143(also called a camera module), optical sensor 164 optionally capturesstill images or video. In some embodiments, an optical sensor is locatedon the back of device 100, opposite touch screen display 112 on thefront of the device, so that the touch screen display is enabled for useas a viewfinder for still and/or video image acquisition. In someembodiments, another optical sensor is located on the front of thedevice so that the user's image is, optionally, obtained forvideoconferencing while the user views the other video conferenceparticipants on the touch screen display.

Device 100 optionally also includes one or more contact intensitysensors 165. FIG. 1A shows a contact intensity sensor coupled tointensity sensor controller 159 in I/O subsystem 106. Contact intensitysensor 165 optionally includes one or more piezoresistive strain gauges,capacitive force sensors, electric force sensors, piezoelectric forcesensors, optical force sensors, capacitive touch-sensitive surfaces, orother intensity sensors (e.g., sensors used to measure the force (orpressure) of a contact on a touch-sensitive surface). Contact intensitysensor 165 receives contact intensity information (e.g., pressureinformation or a proxy for pressure information) from the environment.In some embodiments, at least one contact intensity sensor is collocatedwith, or proximate to, a touch-sensitive surface (e.g., touch-sensitivedisplay system 112). In some embodiments, at least one contact intensitysensor is located on the back of device I 00, opposite touch screendisplay 112 which is located on the front of device 100.

Device 100 optionally also includes one or more proximity sensors 166.FIG. 1A shows proximity sensor 166 coupled to peripherals interface 118.Alternately, proximity sensor 166 is coupled to input controller 160 inI/O subsystem 106. In some embodiments, the proximity sensor turns offand disables touch screen 112 when the multifunction device is placednear the user's ear (e.g., when the user is making a phone call).

Device 100 optionally also includes one or more tactile outputgenerators 167. FIG. 1A shows a tactile output generator coupled tohaptic feedback controller 161 in I/O subsystem 106. Tactile outputgenerator 167 optionally includes one or more electroacoustic devicessuch as speakers or other audio components and/or electromechanicaldevices that convert energy into linear motion such as a motor,solenoid, electroactive polymer, piezoelectric actuator, electrostaticactuator, or other tactile output generating component (e.g., acomponent that converts electrical signals into tactile outputs on thedevice). Contact intensity sensor 165 receives tactile feedbackgeneration instructions from haptic feedback module 133 and generatestactile outputs on device 100 that are capable of being sensed by a userof device 100. In some embodiments, at least one tactile outputgenerator is collocated with, or proximate to, a touch-sensitive surface(e.g., touch-sensitive display system 112) and, optionally, generates atactile output by moving the touch-sensitive surface vertically (e.g.,in/out of a surface of device 100) or laterally (e.g., back and forth inthe same plane as a surface of device 100). In some embodiments, atleast one tactile output generator sensor is located on the back ofdevice 100, opposite touch screen display 112 which is located on thefront of device 100.

Device 100 optionally also includes one or more accelerometers 168. FIG.1A shows accelerometer 168 coupled to peripherals interface 118.Alternately, accelerometer 168 is, optionally, coupled to an inputcontroller 160 in I/O subsystem 106. In some embodiments, information isdisplayed on the touch screen display in a portrait view or a landscapeview based on an analysis of data received from the one or moreaccelerometers. Device 100 optionally includes, in addition toaccelerometer(s) 168, a magnetometer (not shown) and a GPS (or GLONASSor other global navigation system) receiver (not shown) for obtaininginformation concerning the location and orientation (e.g., portrait orlandscape) of device 100.

In some embodiments, the software components stored in memory 102include operating system 126, communication module (or set ofinstructions) 128, contact/motion module (or set of instructions) 130,graphics module (or set of instructions) 132, text input module (or setof instructions) 134, Global Positioning System (GPS) module (or set ofinstructions) 135, and applications (or sets of instructions) 136.Furthermore, in some embodiments memory 102 stores device/globalinternal state 157, as shown in FIGS. 1A and 3. Device/global internalstate 157 includes one or more of: active application state, indicatingwhich applications, if any, are currently active; display state,indicating what applications, views or other information occupy variousregions of touch screen display 112; sensor state, including informationobtained from the device's various sensors and input control devices116; and location information concerning the device's location and/orattitude.

Operating system 126 (e.g., Darwin, RTXC, LINUX, UNIX, OS X, WINDOWS, oran embedded operating system such as VxWorks) includes various softwarecomponents and/or drivers for controlling and managing general systemtasks (e.g., memory management, storage device control, powermanagement, etc.) and facilitates communication between various hardwareand software components.

Communication module 128 facilitates communication with other devicesover one or more external ports 124 and also includes various softwarecomponents for handling data received by RF circuitry 108 and/orexternal port 124. External port 124 (e.g., Universal Serial Bus (USB),FIREWIRE, etc.) is adapted for coupling directly to other devices orindirectly over a network (e.g., the Internet, wireless LAN, etc.). Insome embodiments, the external port is a multi-pin (e.g., 30-pin)connector that is the same as, or similar to and/or compatible with the30-pin connector used on iPod (trademark of Apple Inc.) devices.

Contact/motion module 130 optionally detects contact with touch screen112 (in conjunction with display controller 156) and other touchsensitive devices (e.g., a touchpad or physical click wheel).Contact/motion module 130 includes various software components forperforming various operations related to detection of contact, such asdetermining if contact has occurred (e.g., detecting a finger-downevent), determining an intensity of the contact (e.g., the force orpressure of the contact or a substitute for the force or pressure of thecontact), determining if there is movement of the contact and trackingthe movement across the touch-sensitive surface (e.g., detecting one ormore finger-dragging events), and determining if the contact has ceased(e.g., detecting a finger-up event or a break in contact).Contact/motion module 130 receives contact data from the touch-sensitivesurface. Determining movement of the point of contact, which isrepresented by a series of contact data, optionally includes determiningspeed (magnitude), velocity (magnitude and direction), and/or anacceleration (a change in magnitude and/or direction) of the point ofcontact. These operations are, optionally, applied to single contacts(e.g., one finger contacts) or to multiple simultaneous contacts (e.g.,“multitouch”/multiple finger contacts). In some embodiments,contact/motion module 130 and display controller 156 detect contact on atouchpad.

In some embodiments, contact/motion module 130 uses a set of one or moreintensity thresholds to determine whether an operation has beenperformed by a user (e.g., to determine whether a user has “clicked” onan icon). In some embodiments at least a subset of the intensitythresholds are determined in accordance with software parameters (e.g.,the intensity thresholds are not determined by the activation thresholdsof particular physical actuators and can be adjusted without changingthe physical hardware of device 100). For example, a mouse “click”threshold of a trackpad or touch screen display can be set to any of alarge range of predefined thresholds values without changing thetrackpad or touch screen display hardware. Additionally, in someimplementations a user of the device is provided with software settingsfor adjusting one or more of the set of intensity thresholds (e.g., byadjusting individual intensity thresholds and/or by adjusting aplurality of intensity thresholds at once with a system-level click“intensity” parameter).

Contact/motion module 130 optionally detects a gesture input by a user.Different gestures on the touch-sensitive surface have different contactpatterns (e.g., different motions, timings, and/or intensities ofdetected contacts). Thus, a gesture is, optionally, detected bydetecting a particular contact pattern. For example, detecting a fingertap gesture includes detecting a finger-down event followed by detectinga finger-up (lift off) event at the same position (or substantially thesame position) as the finger-down event (e.g., at the position of anicon). As another example, detecting a finger swipe gesture on thetouch-sensitive surface includes detecting a finger-down event followedby detecting one or more finger-dragging events, and subsequentlyfollowed by detecting a finger-up (lift off) event.

Graphics module 132 includes various known software components forrendering and displaying graphics on touch screen 112 or other display,including components for changing the visual impact (e.g., brightness,transparency, saturation, contrast or other visual property) of graphicsthat are displayed. As used herein, the term “graphics” includes anyobject that can be displayed to a user, including without limitationtext, web pages, icons (such as user-interface objects including softkeys), digital images, videos, animations and the like.

In some embodiments, graphics module 132 stores data representinggraphics to be used. Each graphic is, optionally, assigned acorresponding code. Graphics module 132 receives, from applicationsetc., one or more codes specifying graphics to be displayed along with,if necessary, coordinate data and other graphic property data, and thengenerates screen image data to output to display controller 156.

Haptic feedback module 133 includes various software components forgenerating instructions used by tactile output generator(s) 167 toproduce tactile outputs at one or more locations on device 100 inresponse to user interactions with device 100.

Text input module 134, which is, optionally, a component of graphicsmodule 132, provides soft keyboards for entering text in variousapplications (e.g., contacts 137, e-mail 140, IM 141, browser 147, andany other application that needs text input).

GPS module 135 determines the location of the device and provides thisinformation for use in various applications (e.g., to telephone 138 foruse in location-based dialing, to camera 143 as picture/video metadata,and to applications that provide location-based services such as weatherwidgets, local yellow page widgets, and map/navigation widgets).

Applications 136 optionally include the following modules (or sets ofinstructions), or a subset or superset thereof:

-   -   contacts module 137 (sometimes called an address book or contact        list);    -   telephone module 138;    -   video conferencing module 139;    -   e-mail or email client module 140;    -   instant messaging (IM) module 141;    -   workout support module 142;    -   camera module 143 for still and/or video images;    -   image management module 144;    -   browser module 147;    -   calendar module 148;    -   widget modules 149, which optionally include one or more of:        weather widget 149-1, stocks widget 149-2, calculator widget        149-3, alarm clock widget 149-4, dictionary widget 149-5, and        other widgets obtained by the user, as well as user-created        widgets 149-6;    -   widget creator module 150 for making user-created widgets 149-6;    -   search module 151;    -   video and music player module 152, which is, optionally, made up        of a video player module and a music player module;    -   notes module 153;    -   map module 154; and/or    -   online video module 155.

Examples of other applications 136 that are, optionally, stored inmemory 102 include other word processing applications, other imageediting applications, drawing applications, presentation applications,JAVA-enabled applications, encryption, digital rights management, voicerecognition, and voice replication.

In conjunction with touch screen 112, display controller 156, contactmodule 130, graphics module 132, and text input module 134, contactsmodule 137 are, optionally, used to manage an address book or contactlist (e.g., stored in application internal state 192 of contacts module137 in memory 102 or memory 370), including: adding name(s) to theaddress book; deleting name(s) from the address book; associatingtelephone number(s), email address(es), physical address(es) or otherinformation with a name; associating an image with a name; categorizingand sorting names; providing telephone numbers or e-mail addresses toinitiate and/or facilitate communications by telephone 138, videoconference 139, e-mail 140, or IM 141; and so forth.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, audio circuitry 110, speaker 111,microphone 113, touch screen 112, display controller 156, contact module130, graphics module 132, and text input module 134, telephone module138 are, optionally, used to enter a sequence of characterscorresponding to a telephone number, access one or more telephonenumbers in address book 137, modify a telephone number that has beenentered dial a respective telephone number, conduct a conversation anddisconnect or hang up when the conversation is completed. As notedabove, the wireless communication optionally uses any of a plurality ofcommunications standards, protocols and technologies.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, audio circuitry 110, speaker 111,microphone 113, touch screen 112, display controller 156, optical sensor164, optical sensor controller 158, contact module 130, graphics module132, text input module 134, contact list 137, and telephone module 138,videoconferencing module 139 includes executable instructions toinitiate, conduct, and terminate a video conference between a user andone or more other participants in accordance with user instructions.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, touch screen 112, displaycontroller 156, contact module 130, graphics module 132, and text inputmodule 134, e-mail client module 140 includes executable instructions tocreate, send, receive, and manage e-mail in response to userinstructions. In conjunction with image management module 144, e-mailclient module 140 makes it very easy to create and send e-mails withstill or video images taken with camera module 143.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, touch screen 112, displaycontroller 156, contact module 130, graphics module 132, and text inputmodule 134, the instant messaging module 141 includes executableinstructions to enter a sequence of characters corresponding to aninstant message, to modify previously entered characters, to transmit arespective instant message (for example, using a Short Message Service(SMS) or Multimedia Message Service (MMS) protocol for telephony-basedinstant messages or using XMPP, SIMPLE, or IMPS for Internet-basedinstant messages), to receive instant messages and to view receivedinstant messages. In some embodiments, transmitted and/or receivedinstant messages optionally include graphics, photos, audio files, videofiles and/or other attachments as are supported in a MMS and/or anEnhanced Messaging Service (EMS). As used herein, “instant messaging”refers to both telephony-based messages (e.g., messages sent using SMSor MMS) and Internet-based messages (e.g., messages sent using XMPP,SIMPLE, or IMPS).

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, touch screen 112, displaycontroller 156, contact module 130, graphics module 132, text inputmodule 134, GPS module 135, map module 154, and music player module 146,workout support module 142 includes executable instructions to createworkouts (e.g., with time, distance, and/or calorie burning goals);communicate with workout sensors (sports devices); receive workoutsensor data; calibrate sensors used to monitor a workout; select andplay music for a workout; and display, store and transmit workout data.

In conjunction with touch screen 112, display controller 156, opticalsensor(s) 164, optical sensor controller 158, contact module 130,graphics module 132, and image management module 144, camera module 143includes executable instructions to capture still images or video(including a video stream) and store them into memory 102, modifycharacteristics of a still image or video, or delete a still image orvideo from memory 102.

In conjunction with touch screen 112, display controller 156, contactmodule 130, graphics module 132, text input module 134, and cameramodule 143, image management module 144 includes executable instructionsto arrange, modify (e.g., edit), or otherwise manipulate, label, delete,present (e.g., in a digital slide show or album), and store still and/orvideo images.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, touch screen 112, display systemcontroller 156, contact module 130, graphics module 132, and text inputmodule 134, browser module 147 includes executable instructions tobrowse the Internet in accordance with user instructions, includingsearching, linking to, receiving, and displaying web pages or portionsthereof, as well as attachments and other files linked to web pages.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, touch screen 112, display systemcontroller 156, contact module 130, graphics module 132, text inputmodule 134, e-mail client module 140, and browser module 147, calendarmodule 148 includes executable instructions to create, display, modify,and store calendars and data associated with calendars (e.g., calendarentries, to do lists, etc.) in accordance with user instructions.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, touch screen 112, display systemcontroller 156, contact module 130, graphics module 132, text inputmodule 134, and browser module 147, widget modules 149 aremini-applications that are, optionally, downloaded and used by a user(e.g., weather widget 149-1, stocks widget 149-2, calculator widget149-3, alarm clock widget 149-4, and dictionary widget 149-5) or createdby the user (e.g., user-created widget 149-6). In some embodiments, awidget includes an HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) file, a CSS(Cascading Style Sheets) file, and a JavaScript file. In someembodiments, a widget includes an XML (Extensible Markup Language) fileand a JavaScript file (e.g., Yahoo! Widgets).

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, touch screen 112, display systemcontroller 156, contact module 130, graphics module 132, text inputmodule 134, and browser module 147, the widget creator module 150 are,optionally, used by a user to create widgets (e.g., turning auser-specified portion of a web page into a widget).

In conjunction with touch screen 112, display system controller 156,contact module 130, graphics module 132, and text input module 134,search module 151 includes executable instructions to search for text,music, sound, image, video, and/or other files in memory 102 that matchone or more search criteria (e.g., one or more user-specified searchterms) in accordance with user instructions.

In conjunction with touch screen 112, display system controller 156,contact module 130, graphics module 132, audio circuitry 110, speaker111, RF circuitry 108, and browser module 147, video and music playermodule 152 includes executable instructions that allow the user todownload and play back recorded music and other sound files stored inone or more file formats, such as MP3 or AAC files, and executableinstructions to display, present or otherwise play back videos (e.g., ontouch screen 112 or on an external, connected display via external port124). In some embodiments, device 100 optionally includes thefunctionality of an MP3 player, such as an iPod (trademark of AppleInc.).

In conjunction with touch screen 112, display controller 156, contactmodule 130, graphics module 132, and text input module 134, notes module153 includes executable instructions to create and manage notes, to dolists, and the like in accordance with user instructions.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, touch screen 112, display systemcontroller 156, contact module 130, graphics module 132, text inputmodule 134, GPS module 135, and browser module 147, map module 154 are,optionally, used to receive, display, modify, and store maps and dataassociated with maps (e.g., driving directions; data on stores and otherpoints of interest at or near a particular location; and other locationbased data) in accordance with user instructions.

In conjunction with touch screen 112, display system controller 156,contact module 130, graphics module 132, audio circuitry 110, speaker111, RF circuitry 108, text input module 134, e-mail client module 140,and browser module 147, online video module 155 includes instructionsthat allow the user to access, browse, receive (e.g., by streamingand/or download), play back (e.g., on the touch screen or on anexternal, connected display via external port 124), send an e-mail witha link to a particular online video, and otherwise manage online videosin one or more file formats, such as H.264. In some embodiments, instantmessaging module 141, rather than e-mail client module 140, is used tosend a link to a particular online video.

Each of the above identified modules and applications correspond to aset of executable instructions for performing one or more functionsdescribed above and the methods described in this application (e.g., thecomputer-implemented methods and other information processing methodsdescribed herein). These modules (i.e., sets of instructions) need notbe implemented as separate software programs, procedures or modules, andthus various subsets of these modules are, optionally, combined orotherwise re-arranged in various embodiments. In some embodiments,memory 102 optionally stores a subset of the modules and data structuresidentified above. Furthermore, memory 102 optionally stores additionalmodules and data structures not described above.

In some embodiments, device 100 is a device where operation of apredefined set of functions on the device is performed exclusivelythrough a touch screen and/or a touchpad. By using a touch screen and/ora touchpad as the primary input control device for operation of device100, the number of physical input control devices (such as push buttons,dials, and the like) on device 100 is, optionally, reduced.

The predefined set of functions that are performed exclusively through atouch screen and/or a touchpad optionally include navigation betweenuser interfaces. In some embodiments, the touchpad, when touched by theuser, navigates device 100 to a main, home, or root menu from any userinterface that is displayed on device 100. In such embodiments, a “menubutton” is implemented using a touchpad. In some other embodiments, themenu button is a physical push button or other physical input controldevice instead of a touchpad.

FIG. 1B is a block diagram illustrating exemplary components for eventhandling in accordance with some embodiments. In some embodiments,memory 102 (in FIG. 1A) or 370 (FIG. 3) includes event sorter 170 (e.g.,in operating system 126) and a respective application 136-1 (e.g., anyof the aforementioned applications 137-13, 155, 380-390).

Event sorter 170 receives event information and determines theapplication 136-1 and application view 191 of application 136-1 to whichto deliver the event information. Event sorter 170 includes eventmonitor 171 and event dispatcher module 174. In some embodiments,application 136-1 includes application internal state 192, whichindicates the current application view(s) displayed on touch sensitivedisplay 112 when the application is active or executing. In someembodiments, device/global internal state 157 is used by event sorter170 to determine which application(s) is (are) currently active, andapplication internal state 192 is used by event sorter 170 to determineapplication views 191 to which to deliver event information.

In some embodiments, application internal state 192 includes additionalinformation, such as one or more of: resume information to be used whenapplication 136-1 resumes execution, user interface state informationthat indicates information being displayed or that is ready for displayby application 136-1, a state queue for enabling the user to go back toa prior state or view of application 136-1, and a redo/undo queue ofprevious actions taken by the user.

Event monitor 171 receives event information from peripherals interface118. Event information includes information about a sub-event (e.g., auser touch on touch-sensitive display 112, as part of a multi-touchgesture). Peripherals interface 118 transmits information it receivesfrom I/O subsystem 106 or a sensor, such as proximity sensor 166,accelerometer(s) 168, and/or microphone 113 (through audio circuitry110). Information that peripherals interface 118 receives from I/Osubsystem 106 includes information from touch-sensitive display 112 or atouch-sensitive surface.

In some embodiments, event monitor 171 sends requests to the peripheralsinterface 118 at predetermined intervals. In response, peripheralsinterface 118 transmits event information. In other embodiments,peripheral interface 118 transmits event information only when there isa significant event (e.g., receiving an input above a predeterminednoise threshold and/or for more than a predetermined duration).

In some embodiments, event sorter 170 also includes a hit viewdetermination module 172 and/or an active event recognizer determinationmodule 173.

Hit view determination module 172 provides software procedures fordetermining where a sub-event has taken place within one or more views,when touch sensitive display 112 displays more than one view. Views aremade up of controls and other elements that a user can see on thedisplay.

Another aspect of the user interface associated with an application is aset of views, sometimes herein called application views or userinterface windows, in which information is displayed and touch-basedgestures occur. The application views (of a respective application) inwhich a touch is detected optionally correspond to programmatic levelswithin a programmatic or view hierarchy of the application. For example,the lowest level view in which a touch is detected is, optionally,called the hit view, and the set of events that are recognized as properinputs are, optionally, determined based, at least in part, on the hitview of the initial touch that begins a touch-based gesture.

Hit view determination module 172 receives information related tosub-events of a touch-based gesture. When an application has multipleviews organized in a hierarchy, hit view determination module 172identifies a hit view as the lowest view in the hierarchy which shouldhandle the sub-event. In most circumstances, the hit view is the lowestlevel view in which an initiating sub-event occurs (i.e., the firstsub-event in the sequence of sub-events that form an event or potentialevent). Once the hit view is identified by the hit view determinationmodule, the hit view typically receives all sub-events related to thesame touch or input source for which it was identified as the hit view.

Active event recognizer determination module 173 determines which viewor views within a view hierarchy should receive a particular sequence ofsub-events. In some embodiments, active event recognizer determinationmodule 173 determines that only the hit view should receive a particularsequence of sub-events. In other embodiments, active event recognizerdetermination module 173 determines that all views that include thephysical location of a sub-event are actively involved views, andtherefore determines that all actively involved views should receive aparticular sequence of sub-events. In other embodiments, even if touchsub-events were entirely confined to the area associated with oneparticular view, views higher in the hierarchy would still remain asactively involved views.

Event dispatcher module 174 dispatches the event information to an eventrecognizer (e.g., event recognizer 180). In embodiments including activeevent recognizer determination module 173, event dispatcher module 174delivers the event information to an event recognizer determined byactive event recognizer determination module 173. In some embodiments,event dispatcher module 174 stores in an event queue the eventinformation, which is retrieved by a respective event receiver module182.

In some embodiments, operating system 126 includes event sorter 170.Alternatively, application 136-1 includes event sorter 170. In yet otherembodiments, event sorter 170 is a stand-alone module, or a part ofanother module stored in memory 102, such as contact/motion module 130.

In some embodiments, application 136-1 includes a plurality of eventhandlers 190 and one or more application views 191, each of whichincludes instructions for handling touch events that occur within arespective view of the application's user interface. Each applicationview 191 of the application 136-1 includes one or more event recognizers180. Typically, a respective application view 191 includes a pluralityof event recognizers 180. In other embodiments, one or more of eventrecognizers 180 are part of a separate module, such as a user interfacekit (not shown) or a higher level object from which application 136-1inherits methods and other properties. In some embodiments, a respectiveevent handler 190 includes one or more of: data updater 176, objectupdater 177, GUI updater 178, and/or event data 179 received from eventsorter 170. Event handler 190 optionally utilizes or calls data updater176, object updater 177 or GUI updater 178 to update the applicationinternal state 192. Alternatively, one or more of the application views191 includes one or more respective event handlers 190. Also, in someembodiments, one or more of data updater 176, object updater 177, andGUI updater 178 are included in a respective application view 191.

A respective event recognizer 180 receives event information (e.g.,event data 179) from event sorter 170, and identifies an event from theevent information. Event recognizer 180 includes event receiver 182 andevent comparator 184. In some embodiments, event recognizer 180 alsoincludes at least a subset of: metadata 183, and event deliveryinstructions 188 (which optionally include sub-event deliveryinstructions).

Event receiver 182 receives event information from event sorter 170. Theevent information includes information about a sub-event, for example, atouch or a touch movement. Depending on the sub-event, the eventinformation also includes additional information, such as location ofthe sub-event. When the sub-event concerns motion of a touch, the eventinformation optionally also includes speed and direction of thesub-event. In some embodiments, events include rotation of the devicefrom one orientation to another (e.g., from a portrait orientation to alandscape orientation, or vice versa), and the event informationincludes corresponding information about the current orientation (alsocalled device attitude) of the device.

Event comparator 184 compares the event information to predefined eventor sub-event definitions and, based on the comparison, determines anevent or sub-event, or determines or updates the state of an event orsub-event. In some embodiments, event comparator 184 includes eventdefinitions 186. Event definitions 186 contain definitions of events(e.g., predefined sequences of sub-events), for example, event 1(187-1), event 2 (187-2), and others. In some embodiments, sub-events inan event 187 include, for example, touch begin, touch end, touchmovement, touch cancellation, and multiple touching. In one example, thedefinition for event 1 (187-1) is a double tap on a displayed object.The double tap, for example, comprises a first touch (touch begin) onthe displayed object for a predetermined phase, a first lift-off (touchend) for a predetermined phase, a second touch (touch begin) on thedisplayed object for a predetermined phase, and a second lift-off (touchend) for a predetermined phase. In another example, the definition forevent 2 (187-2) is a dragging on a displayed object. The dragging, forexample, comprises a touch (or contact) on the displayed object for apredetermined phase, a movement of the touch across touch-sensitivedisplay 112, and lift-off of the touch (touch end). In some embodiments,the event also includes information for one or more associated eventhandlers 190.

In some embodiments, event definition 187 includes a definition of anevent for a respective user-interface object. In some embodiments, eventcomparator 184 performs a hit test to determine which user-interfaceobject is associated with a sub-event. For example, in an applicationview in which three user-interface objects are displayed ontouch-sensitive display 112, when a touch is detected on touch-sensitivedisplay 112, event comparator 184 performs a hit test to determine whichof the three user-interface objects is associated with the touch(sub-event). If each displayed object is associated with a respectiveevent handler 190, the event comparator uses the result of the hit testto determine which event handler 190 should be activated. For example,event comparator 184 selects an event handler associated with thesub-event and the object triggering the hit test.

In some embodiments, the definition for a respective event 187 alsoincludes delayed actions that delay delivery of the event informationuntil after it has been determined whether the sequence of sub-eventsdoes or does not correspond to the event recognizer's event type.

When a respective event recognizer 180 determines that the series ofsub-events do not match any of the events in event definitions 186, therespective event recognizer 180 enters an event impossible, eventfailed, or event ended state, after which it disregards subsequentsub-events of the touch-based gesture. In this situation, other eventrecognizers, if any, that remain active for the hit view continue totrack and process sub-events of an ongoing touch-based gesture.

In some embodiments, a respective event recognizer 180 includes metadata183 with configurable properties, flags, and/or lists that indicate howthe event delivery system should perform sub-event delivery to activelyinvolved event recognizers. In some embodiments, metadata 183 includesconfigurable properties, flags, and/or lists that indicate how eventrecognizers interact, or are enabled to interact, with one another. Insome embodiments, metadata 183 includes configurable properties, flags,and/or lists that indicate whether sub-events are delivered to varyinglevels in the view or programmatic hierarchy.

In some embodiments, a respective event recognizer 180 activates eventhandler 190 associated with an event when one or more particularsub-events of an event are recognized. In some embodiments, a respectiveevent recognizer 180 delivers event information associated with theevent to event handler 190. Activating an event handler 190 is distinctfrom sending (and deferred sending) sub-events to a respective hit view.In some embodiments, event recognizer 180 throws a flag associated withthe recognized event, and event handler 190 associated with the flagcatches the flag and performs a predefined process.

In some embodiments, event delivery instructions 188 include sub-eventdelivery instructions that deliver event information about a sub-eventwithout activating an event handler. Instead, the sub-event deliveryinstructions deliver event information to event handlers associated withthe series of sub-events or to actively involved views. Event handlersassociated with the series of sub-events or with actively involved viewsreceive the event information and perform a predetermined process.

In some embodiments, data updater 176 creates and updates data used inapplication 136-1. For example, data updater 176 updates the telephonenumber used in contacts module 137, or stores a video file used in videoplayer module 145. In some embodiments, object updater 177 creates andupdates objects used in application 136-1. For example, object updater176 creates a new user-interface object or updates the position of auser-interface object. GUI updater 178 updates the GUI. For example, GUIupdater 178 prepares display information and sends it to graphics module132 for display on a touch-sensitive display.

In some embodiments, event handler(s) 190 includes or has access to dataupdater 176, object updater 177, and GUI updater 178. In someembodiments, data updater 176, object updater 177, and GUI updater 178are included in a single module of a respective application 136-1 orapplication view 191. In other embodiments, they are included in two ormore software modules.

It shall be understood that the foregoing discussion regarding eventhandling of user touches on touch-sensitive displays also applies toother forms of user inputs to operate multifunction devices 100 withinput-devices, not all of which are initiated on touch screens. Forexample, mouse movement and mouse button presses, optionally coordinatedwith single or multiple keyboard presses or holds; contact movementssuch as taps, drags, scrolls, etc., on touch-pads; pen stylus inputs;movement of the device; oral instructions; detected eye movements;biometric inputs; and/or any combination thereof are optionally utilizedas inputs corresponding to sub-events which define an event to berecognized.

FIG. 2 illustrates a portable multifunction device 100 having a touchscreen 112 in accordance with some embodiments. The touch screenoptionally displays one or more graphics within user interface (UI) 200.In this embodiment, as well as others described below, a user is enabledto select one or more of the graphics by making a gesture on thegraphics, for example, with one or more fingers 202 (not drawn to scalein the figure) or one or more styluses 203 (not drawn to scale in thefigure). In some embodiments, selection of one or more graphics occurswhen the user breaks contact with the one or more graphics. In someembodiments, the gesture optionally includes one or more taps, one ormore swipes (from left to right, right to left, upward and/or downward)and/or a rolling of a finger (from right to left, left to right, upwardand/or downward) that has made contact with device 100. In someimplementations or circumstances, inadvertent contact with a graphicdoes not select the graphic. For example, a swipe gesture that sweepsover an application icon optionally does not select the correspondingapplication when the gesture corresponding to selection is a tap.

Device 100 optionally also includes one or more physical buttons, suchas “home” or menu button 204. As described previously, menu button 204is, optionally, used to navigate to any application 136 in a set ofapplications that are, optionally executed on device 100. Alternatively,in some embodiments, the menu button is implemented as a soft key in aGUI displayed on touch screen 112.

In one embodiment, device 100 includes touch screen 112, menu button204, push button 206 for powering the device on/off and locking thedevice, volume adjustment button(s) 208, Subscriber Identity Module(SIM) card slot 210, head set jack 212, and docking/charging externalport 124. Push button 206 is, optionally, used to turn the power on/offon the device by depressing the button and holding the button in thedepressed state for a predefined time interval; to lock the device bydepressing the button and releasing the button before the predefinedtime interval has elapsed; and/or to unlock the device or initiate anunlock process. In an alternative embodiment, device 100 also acceptsverbal input for activation or deactivation of some functions throughmicrophone 113. Device 100 also, optionally, includes one or morecontact intensity sensors 165 for detecting intensity of contacts ontouch screen 112 and/or one or more tactile output generators 167 forgenerating tactile outputs for a user of device 100.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an exemplary multifunction device with adisplay and a touch-sensitive surface in accordance with someembodiments. Device 300 need not be portable. In some embodiments,device 300 is a laptop computer, a desktop computer, a tablet computer,a multimedia player device, a navigation device, an educational device(such as a child's learning toy), a gaming system, or a control device(e.g., a home or industrial controller). Device 300 typically includesone or more processing units (CPU's) 310, one or more network or othercommunications interfaces 360, memory 370, and one or more communicationbuses 320 for interconnecting these components. Communication buses 320optionally include circuitry (sometimes called a chipset) thatinterconnects and controls communications between system components.Device 300 includes input/output (I/O) interface 330 comprising display340, which is typically a touch screen display. I/O interface 330 alsooptionally includes a keyboard and/or mouse (or other pointing device)350 and touchpad 355, tactile output generator 357 for generatingtactile outputs on device 300 (e.g., similar to tactile outputgenerator(s) 167 described above with reference to FIG. 1A), sensors 359(e.g., optical, acceleration, proximity, touch-sensitive, and/or contactintensity sensors similar to contact intensity sensor(s) 165 describedabove with reference to FIG. 1A). Memory 370 includes high-speed randomaccess memory, such as DRAM, SRAM, DDR RAM or other random access solidstate memory devices; and optionally includes non-volatile memory, suchas one or more magnetic disk storage devices, optical disk storagedevices, flash memory devices, or other non-volatile solid state storagedevices. Memory 370 optionally includes one or more storage devicesremotely located from CPU(s) 310. In some embodiments, memory 370 storesprograms, modules, and data structures analogous to the programs,modules, and data structures stored in memory 102 of portablemultifunction device 100 (FIG. 1A), or a subset thereof. Furthermore,memory 370 optionally stores additional programs, modules, and datastructures not present in memory 102 of portable multifunction device100. For example, memory 370 of device 300 optionally stores drawingmodule 380, presentation module 382, word processing module 384, websitecreation module 386, disk authoring module 388, and/or spreadsheetmodule 390, while memory 102 of portable multifunction device 100 (FIG.1A) optionally does not store these modules.

Each of the above identified elements in FIG. 3 are, optionally, storedin one or more of the previously mentioned memory devices. Each of theabove identified modules corresponds to a set of instructions forperforming a function described above. The above identified modules orprograms (i.e., sets of instructions) need not be implemented asseparate software programs, procedures or modules, and thus varioussubsets of these modules are, optionally, combined or otherwisere-arranged in various embodiments. In some embodiments, memory 370optionally stores a subset of the modules and data structures identifiedabove. Furthermore, memory 370 optionally stores additional modules anddata structures not described above.

Attention is now directed towards embodiments of user interfaces (“UI”)that is, optionally, implemented on portable multifunction device 100.

FIG. 4A illustrates an exemplary user interface for a menu ofapplications on portable multifunction device 100 in accordance withsome embodiments. Similar user interfaces are, optionally, implementedon device 300. In some embodiments, user interface 400 includes thefollowing elements, or a subset or superset thereof:

-   -   Signal strength indicator(s) 402 for wireless communication(s),        such as cellular and Wi-Fi signals;    -   Time 404;    -   Bluetooth indicator 405;    -   Battery status indicator 406;    -   Tray 408 with icons for frequently used applications, such as:        -   Icon 416 for telephone module 138, labeled “Phone,” which            optionally includes an indicator 414 of the number of missed            calls or voicemail messages;        -   Icon 418 for email client module 140, labeled “Mail,” which            optionally includes an indicator 410 of the number of unread            e-mails;        -   Icon 420 for browser module 147, labeled “Browser”; and        -   Icon 422 for video and music player module 152, also            referred to as iPod (trademark of Apple Inc.) module 152,            labeled “iPod”; and    -   Icons for other applications, such as:        -   Icon 424 for IM module 141, labeled “Text”;        -   Icon 426 for calendar module 148, labeled “Calendar”;        -   Icon 428 for image management module 144, labeled “Photos”;        -   Icon 430 for camera module 143, labeled “Camera”;        -   Icon 432 for online video module 155, labeled “Online Video”        -   Icon 434 for stocks widget 149-2, labeled “Stocks”;        -   Icon 436 for map module 154, labeled “Map”;        -   Icon 438 for weather widget 149-1, labeled “Weather”;        -   Icon 440 for alarm clock widget 149-4, labeled “Clock”;        -   Icon 442 for workout support module 142, labeled “Workout            Support”;        -   Icon 444 for notes module 153, labeled “Notes”; and        -   Icon 446 for a settings application or module, which            provides access to settings for device 100 and its various            applications 136.

It should be noted that the icon labels illustrated in FIG. 4A aremerely exemplary. For example, icon 422 for video and music playermodule 152 are labeled “Music” or “Music Player.” Other labels are,optionally, used for various application icons. In some embodiments, alabel for a respective application icon includes a name of anapplication corresponding to the respective application icon. In someembodiments, a label for a particular application icon is distinct froma name of an application corresponding to the particular applicationicon.

FIG. 4B illustrates an exemplary user interface on a device (e.g.,device 300, FIG. 3) with a touch-sensitive surface 451 (e.g., a tabletor touchpad 355, FIG. 3) that is separate from the display 450 (e.g.,touch screen display 112). Device 300 also, optionally, includes one ormore contact intensity sensors (e.g., one or more of sensors 357 fordetecting intensity of contacts on touch-sensitive surface 451 and/orone or more tactile output generators 359 for generating tactile outputsfor a user of device 300.

Although some of the examples which follow will be given with referenceto inputs on touch screen display 112 (where the touch sensitive surfaceand the display are combined), in some embodiments, the device detectsinputs on a touch-sensitive surface that is separate from the display,as shown in FIG. 4B. In some embodiments the touch sensitive surface(e.g., 451 in FIG. 4B) has a primary axis (e.g., 452 in FIG. 4B) thatcorresponds to a primary axis (e.g., 453 in FIG. 4B) on the display(e.g., 450). In accordance with these embodiments, the device detectscontacts (e.g., 460 and 462 in FIG. 4B) with the touch-sensitive surface451 at locations that correspond to respective locations on the display(e.g., in FIG. 4B, 460 corresponds to 468 and 462 corresponds to 470).In this way, user inputs (e.g., contacts 460 and 462, and movementsthereof) detected by the device on the touch-sensitive surface (e.g.,451 in FIG. 4B) are used by the device to manipulate the user interfaceon the display (e.g., 450 in FIG. 4B) of the multifunction device whenthe touch-sensitive surface is separate from the display. It should beunderstood that similar methods are, optionally, used for other userinterfaces described herein.

Additionally, while the following examples are given primarily withreference to finger inputs (e.g., finger contacts, finger tap gestures,finger swipe gestures), it should be understood that, in someembodiments, one or more of the finger inputs are replaced with inputfrom another input device (e.g., a mouse based input or stylus input).For example, a swipe gesture is, optionally, replaced with a mouse click(e.g., instead of a contact) followed by movement of the cursor alongthe path of the swipe (e.g., instead of movement of the contact). Asanother example, a tap gesture is, optionally, replaced with a mouseclick while the cursor is located over the location of the tap gesture(e.g., instead of detection of the contact followed by ceasing to detectthe contact). Similarly, when multiple user inputs are simultaneouslydetected, it should be understood that multiple computer mice are,optionally, used simultaneously, or a mouse and finger contacts are,optionally, used simultaneously.

As used herein, the term “focus selector” refers to an input elementthat indicates a current part of a user interface with which a user isinteracting. In some implementations that include a cursor or otherlocation marker, the cursor acts as a “focus selector,” so that when aninput (e.g., a press input) is detected on a touch-sensitive surface(e.g., touchpad 355 in FIG. 3 or touch-sensitive surface 451 in FIG. 4B)while the cursor is over a particular user interface element (e.g., abutton, window, slider or other user interface element), the particularuser interface element is adjusted in accordance with the detectedinput. In some implementations that include a touch-screen display(e.g., touch-sensitive display system 112 in FIG. 1A or touch screen 112in FIG. 4A) that enables direct interaction with user interface elementson the touch-screen display, a detected contact on the touch-screen actsas a “focus selector,” so that when an input (e.g., a press input by thecontact) is detected on the touch-screen display at a location of aparticular user interface element (e.g., a button, window, slider orother user interface element), the particular user interface element isadjusted in accordance with the detected input. In some implementationsfocus is moved from one region of a user interface to another region ofthe user interface without corresponding movement of a cursor ormovement of a contact on a touch-screen display (e.g., by using a tabkey or arrow keys to move focus from one button to another button); inthese implementations, the focus selector moves in accordance withmovement of focus between different regions of the user interface.Without regard to the specific form taken by the focus selector, thefocus selector is generally the user interface element (or contact on atouch-screen display) that is controlled by the user so as tocommunicate the user's intended interaction with the user interface(e.g., by indicating, to the device, the element of the user interfacewith which the user is intending to interact). For example, the locationof a focus selector (e.g., a cursor, a contact or a selection box) overa respective button while a press input is detected on thetouch-sensitive surface (e.g., a touchpad or touch screen) will indicatethat the user is intending to activate the respective button (as opposedto other user interface elements shown on a display of the device).

Attention is now directed towards embodiments of user interfaces (“UI”)and associated processes that may be implemented on an electronic devicewith a display and a touch-sensitive surface, such as device 300 orportable multifunction device 100.

As mentioned previously, the device 100 includes multiple applications136 configured to execute on the device 100. One of the multipleapplications 136 is the email client module 140 and a user can interactwith the application on the computing device 100. As will be furtherdescribed below, the email client module 140 has various user interfacesto enhance the user experience with the computing device 100 when usingthe application.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating an email system environmentsuitable for sending email messages among a plurality of email clientmodules 140. The email system environment comprises a plurality ofdevices 100, each running an email client module 140 a and 140 b, acloud server 510, a cloud store 520 connected to cloud server 510, anemail server 530, an email server store 540 connected to the emailserver 530, and a network 550. The devices 100 are configured tocommunicate via the network as described in detail above. In oneembodiment, a server provides the services of the cloud server and emailserver. In alternative configurations, different and/or additionalmodules can be included in the system.

Email Application UI and Gestures

FIG. 6 illustrates a landscape view of icons for applications of thedevice 100, according to one embodiment. For example, the tray 408 iconsare for the following applications or modules:

-   -   Icon 424 for IM module 141, labeled “Messages”;    -   Icon 418 for email client module 140, labeled “Mail,” which        optionally includes an indicator 410 of the number of unread        emails;    -   Icon 420 for browser module 147, labeled “Browser”; and    -   Icon 422 for video and music player module 152, labeled “music”;        and        Icons for other applications include:    -   Icon 424 for IM module 141, labeled “Messages”;    -   Icon 426 for calendar module 148, labeled “Calendar”;    -   Icon 422 for video and music player module 152, labeled “music”;    -   Icon 418 for email client module 140, labeled “Mail,” which        optionally includes an indicator 410 of the number of unread        emails;    -   Icon 438 for weather widget 149-1, labeled “Weather”;    -   Icon 420 for browser module 147, labeled “Browser”; and    -   Icon 444 for notes module 153, labeled “Notes.”        In other embodiments, different and/or additional icons can be        presented on the user interface 500.

Furthermore, FIG. 6 illustrates a received gesture to execute (“launch”)an application. The launch gesture is directed towards the “Mail” icon418 indicative of a user request to execute the email client module 140a represented by the “Mail” icon 418. Although the launch gesture isdescribed with respect to the portrait view of the icons, the launchgesture may also be received in a landscape view of the icons.

In one embodiment, the launch gesture or any other suitable gestureherein includes a contact on an icon. In general, a gesture isconsidered to be “on” an icon if the contact touches at least a portionof the icon displayed on the user interface 600. In FIG. 6, the launchgesture is represented by the contact 602 (e.g., of the user's finger, astylus, or pointer device) on the “Mail” icon 418. In response to thelaunch gesture, the device 100 dismisses (i.e., removes) the icons fromdisplay on the user interface 600 and displays an application view 704of a mail application corresponding to the “Mail” icon 418 as shown inFIG. 6. The application view 704 of the email client module 140 is shownin the user interface. The application view 704 of the “Mail” icon 418includes emails from the user's email account(s).

Responsive to user selection of the menu button 204, for example,through contact of the menu button 204, the device 100 dismisses theapplication view 704 of the “Mail” icon 418 from the user interface 600and displays the icons as shown in FIG. 6. In one embodiment, dismissalof an application merely removes the application view 704 from beingdisplayed on the user interface 600. The dismissed application is stillexecuting in a background process of the device 100 even though theapplication view 704 of the application is no longer displayed on theuser interface. Thus, the email client module 140 shown in FIGS. 3 and 5is still executing in the background of the device 100 even though theapplication view 704 of the email client module 140 has been dismissed.

FIG. 7 illustrates an application view 704 of an email application,according to one embodiment. For example, the application view 704displays email messages 706A, 706B, 706C, 706D, 706E, 706F and 706G fromthe inbox of the user's email account. Each email message 706 displayssender information 708, subject information 710, a portion of the bodyof the email 712, and optionally other indicators, such as an attachmentindicator 714. As also described in FIG. 7, additional user interfaceelements are displayed in the application view 704 and among others anew draft element 714.

FIG. 7 also illustrates a draft gesture 716 indicative of a request todraft a new email and open a composition interface. For example, thedraft gesture is a contact 716 detected by the device 100 on the newdraft element 714. Responsive to the detected contact 716, a messagecomposition interface or draft user interface (UI) 820 is shown in theapplication view 804 as illustrated in FIG. 8, according to oneembodiment. A draft UI 820 of the email application also can be openedby other another application module that invokes the email client module140 to compose an email message. In yet other examples, the emailapplication opens a draft UI 820 in the application view 804 when theuser replies to or forwards an email message received through the emailapplication. A person skilled in the art can readily appreciate that adraft UI 820 can be open by a user in other ways through the emailapplication.

As described further in conjunction with FIG. 9, a method is describedherein of replacing an attachment in an email that is above a thresholdsize with a link to the attachment on a server. Often an email serverimposes a limit on the size of an email message (including anyattachments) that it accepts from a sender's email client module. If anemail message size exceeds that limit, the email server rejects(“bounces”) the email message, without storing a copy for laterretrieval by the recipient. To avoid testing an email server's sizelimit and risking that an email messages bounces, the email clientmodule provides the user with the option of sending the email messageand attachment separately, using the cloud server 510 for sending theattachment and the email server 530 for sending the email message minusthe attachment. This method allows a user to send via email attachmentsthat typically are too large to be sent due to size limits enforced byoutgoing and/or incoming email servers. FIG. 8A corresponds to imageemail attachments, whereas FIG. 8B corresponds to PDFs or other types ofemail attachments.

FIG. 8A illustrates a draft UI 820 in the application view 804 of theemail application for sending a message with an attachment, according toone embodiment. The draft UI 820 includes a header element 822, a senderinformation element 824, a subject information element 826, an imagesize selection element 828, and a message body element 830. The headerelement 822 includes cancel and send buttons, and optionally the subjectof the message or a “New Message” indicator. In the sender informationelement 824 the user can enter address information to allow delivery ofthe email message to the specified recipient. In one embodiment, thesender information element includes an input element to enter acharacter string associated with the address information of therecipient. The input element invokes the text input module 134 forinputting the text string. The sender information can include the nameof the sender, e.g. the sender's first or last name, and additionalrecipients (carbon-copied or blind carbon-copied) of the email messages.As illustrated in FIG. 8A the corresponding input elements of senderinformation are indicated by “To:,” “From:,” “Cc:,” or “Bcc”; labels.The subject information element also includes an input element to entera subject for the composed email message.

The draft UI 820 contains an additional input field for the message body830. This input field allows the user to compose text for the emailmessage of the email application. Furthermore, the user may includeattachments with the email message of the email application. Anattachment may contain various content units such as, photos, audiofiles, video files, text files, archive files, and portable documentfiles among others. An attachment may be included in an email message,for example, when another application (described above) that runs on thedevice invokes the email application to send a content unit to an emailrecipient with an email message.

The embodiment of FIG. 8A illustrates the case of one or more images(e.g., photos) being attached to an email messages in the draft UI 820.In addition to the images the user attaches to the email, low resolutionimages 832 are embedded in the body of the email message according tothe displayed embodiment. In other embodiments, the decision whether toembed low resolution images occurs after the system determines that theimage attachments exceed the maximum size. The image size selectionelement 828 allows the user to select the size of each attached imagethrough a selection gesture. The selection gesture is a contact with oneof the size buttons 834 displayed in the image size selection element828. A contact (not shown) on the size button 834, selects the size ofeach attached image. The selected size button is displayed visiblydistinguished from the other non-selected size buttons, shown in FIG. 8Aas a darker grey color. When selecting a size different from the actualsize of the attached images, the image management module 144 resizes theattached photos to the selected size. In one embodiment, the selectionincludes a small size, a medium size, or a large size option in additionto the actual size of the images. The email client module 140 receivesthe newly resized images from the image management module 144 andattaches them to the email message. In one embodiment the imagemanagement module 144 calculates the total size of all resized imagesand communicates the total size to the email client module 140 thatdisplays the size on the corresponding size button of the draft UI 820.

The body of the message 830 including additional low resolution imagesthat are not initially visible in the application view 804 can bedisplayed following a scrolling gesture 836. This scrolling gesture isapplied in a direction substantially perpendicular to the text lines ofthe displayed email messages, as shown in FIG. 8A. Applying thisscrolling gesture displays body of the email message that follows thecurrently displayed message body. Reversing the direction of thescrolling gesture displays part of the message body that precedes thecurrently displayed part.

The embodiment of FIG. 8B illustrates the case of files that are notimages being attached to an email messages in the draft UI 820. In thisembodiment, a portable document file (New Doc.PDF) and archive file (NewArchive.ZIP) are attached to the composed email message shown in theapplication view 804. Instead of the image size selection element, anattachment information element 838 is displayed that providesinformation about the attached files, e.g. the size and number ofattached files. In addition to the information element 838, the draft UI820 displays an attachment element 840 for each attachment in the bodyof the email message. The display of the attachment element 840 mayinclude, but is not limited to an icon indicative of the type and formatof each attached file, their names and sizes, and a link pointing totheir cached location accessible by the email client module.

FIG. 9 illustrates a method of sending an email message by replacing anattachment with a link to a server storing the attachment according toone embodiment. Responsive to the contact 850, shown in FIG. 8A, on thesend button detected by the device 100, the email client module 140receives 905 a request to send the email message including theattachment to the recipient contained in the sender information. Inresponse to receiving the request, the email client module 140determines 910 the size of the email message including its attachment.In another embodiment, the email application run by the email clientmodule only determines the size of the attachment. If the size exceeds athreshold, the email client module 140 sends 915 a request to a cloudserver 510 for uploading (storing) the attachment to the server. Inresponse to receiving the request from the module 140, the cloud server510 determines whether the size of the attachment exceeds a thresholdand if the size does not exceed the threshold, calculates the storagespace at a location on the cloud server that is configured to store theattachment. The cloud server bases this calculation on various storageparameters, e.g. a storage limit of the user associated with therequest. If the storage space is sufficient to store the attachment, thecloud server 510 sends a positive confirmation back to the email clientmodule 140. The positive confirmation includes a link to the calculatedlocation and validity information of the link. The validity informationmay include a date on which the storage space at the calculatedlocations expires and the attachment is no longer available fordownloading from the cloud server.

In response to the email client module 140 receiving a positiveconfirmation from the server 510 to the uploading request, the emailclient module 140 provides 920 the user with an option to upload theattachment to the cloud server. The confirmation may include a referenceto the location where on the server 510 the attachment is uploaded to.In one embodiment, the attachment is stored in the cloud store 520. Ifthe confirmation from the server 510 is negative, e.g. the attachmentsize exceeds a threshold size available on or allowed by the server 510or the storage limit on the server 510 is reached, the email clientmodule 140 provides 925 the user with the option to cancel the deliveryof the email massage. These options among other options are included insheets 1010 of send options displayed in the application view 1004 ofthe email application, as illustrated in FIGS. 10A-D. In one embodiment,if the storage limit is reached, the server 510 sends an alert to theemail client module 140 about reaching the limit.

FIGS. 10A and 10B illustrate sheets 1010 of send options for sending theemail message including the attachment(s) in the application view 1004of the email application, according to one embodiment. The send optionsinclude “Send with Cloud” 1012, “Try to Send Anyway” 1014, and “Cancel”1016. Responsive to the selection of the “Cancel” option 1016, the emailapplication cancels the delivery of the email message to the specifiedrecipient. One embodiment includes an option for the email client module140 to save the previous user selection among the send option. Asillustrated in FIG. 10B, the sheet 1010, for example, can include acheck box “Don't Ask Again” 1018 that the user can select to store thecurrent selection among the presented options 1012, 1014, and 1016 forapplication to future email messages. In response to a subsequentrequest for sending an email message, the email client module 140 willnot provide the user with send options 1012, 1014, and 1016.

When selecting the option “Try to Send Anyway” 1014, the email clientmodule 140 of the sender identifies the email server 530 associated withthe recipient contained in the sender information of the email message.The email server 530 stores and forwards the email message including theattachment(s) to the recipient's email address. Upon identifying theemail server 530, the sender's email client 140 sends the email messageand attachment to the email server 530 that stores a copy of the messageand attachment in the email server store 540. Upon the recipient's emailclient module 140 contacting the email server 530 for obtaining theemail message, the email server 530 retrieves the messages with theattachment from the email server store 540 and transmits them to therecipient's email client module 140. Oftentimes, the email serverimposes a limit on the size of an email messages (including anyattachments) that it accepts from a sender's email client module. If theemail message size exceeds that limit, the email server rejects(“bounces”) the email message, without storing a copy for laterretrieval by the recipient. In some cases, the email server sends amessage to the sender's email client module informing it of the maximalsize of an email message that the email server accepts. To avoid testingan email server's size limit and risking that an email messages bounces,the email client module provides the user with the option of sending theemail message and attachment separately, using the cloud server 510 forsending the attachment and the email server 530 for sending the emailmessage minus the attachment.

When selecting the option “Send with Cloud” 1012, the email clientmodule 140 adds 930 in the email message a link to the location of theattachment on the cloud server 510 and an UI element to the emailmessage before sending the message to the email server 530. The emailclient module 140 may retrieve a reference for the location from thecloud server's confirmation message. Alternatively, the email clientmodule 140 may query the cloud server 510 for the reference or receivethe reference from the cloud server after uploading the attachment tothe server. In one embodiment, a version of the attachment also isembedded in the email message before sending the email message to theemail server 530. This version may include, but is not limited to, adifferent format of the attachment and a smaller-sized version of theattachment, e.g. a low resolution image of an attached photo. When theemail message is displayed at the recipient, the embedded version of theattachment 1122 is visibly displayed within the body of the message inaddition to the UI element that includes a link 1128 to the location ofthe attachment on the cloud server 510, as shown in FIG. 11A.

Furthermore, when selecting the option “Send with Cloud” 1012, the emailclient module sends the email message with the embedded link and UIelement to the email server 530. In response to sending the emailmessage, the email client module 140 uploads 935 the attachment to alocation on the cloud server referenced by the link in the emailmessage.

FIGS. 10C and 10D also illustrates sheets 1010 of send options forsending an attachment using a cloud server 510 when the attachment sizeexceeds a threshold value provided by the cloud server, according to oneembodiment. In this embodiment, the email client module 140 receives anegative confirmation from the cloud server 510 for uploading theattachment, indicating that the size of the attachment exceeds anallowed threshold value. Alternatively, the email client module 140determines that the size of the attachment exceeds a specified thresholdvalue for the cloud server 510. A “Cancel” button 1022 (FIG. 10C) or“Ok” button 1022 (FIG. 10D) is displayed with a message 1020 alertingthe user of the size of the attachment and the maximum size allowed bythe cloud server 510 for sending the attachment, e.g. “Your message hassize of 17.2 MB, which exceeds 10 MB, the maximum allowed by theserver.” Responsive to the selection of the Cancel option 1022, theemail application run by the email client module 140 cancels thedelivery of the email message to the specified recipient of the emailmessage. However, to send such a message one may use the image sizeselection element 834 to select a different attachment size that fallsbelow the threshold value.

Upon a recipient's email client module 140 requesting an email messageaddressed to the recipient from the email server 530, the email clientmodule 140 receives this email message from email server 530 anddisplays the received email message to user. In one embodiment, theemail client module receives an email message that comprises a link to alocation of an attachment on a cloud server 510, which is associatedwith the email message, and validity information of the link. In thisembodiment, the email message without the attachment is stored in theemail server store 540 associated with the email server 530, and uponrequest by the email client module 140 is retrieved from store 540 andtransmitted to the module 140 by the server 530. In response to anaction to open the email message with the link by the email clientmodule 140, the module determines whether the link is valid using thevalidity information. Furthermore, in response to an action that selectsthe link to the location of the attachment, i.e. download gestures inFIGS. 11B-D, and if the link is valid, the module 140 sends a request tothe cloud server 510 to retrieve the attachment. The module 140 proceedsto retrieve the attachment from the server. In response to the retrievalthe module 140 updates validity information, including its visibleindication, of the link to indicate that the attachment has beenretrieved from the cloud server. In one embodiment, the email clientmodule stores the email message with the updated validity informationand with the attachment being embedded within the email message on aspecified location associated with the device 100.

FIGS. 11A-11C illustrates an application view 1104 of an emailapplication displaying email messages including attachments, where theattachments send through a cloud server 510, according to oneembodiment. As illustrated in FIG. 11A, the application view 1104displays a message section 1110 in addition to the email messages 1106A,1106B 1106C, 1106D, 1106E, 1106F and 1106G from an inbox of the user'semail account. The email messages 1106B displayed in the message section1110 may include sender information 1112, subject information 1114,attachment information 1116, and a portion of the message body 1118 ofthe email 1106B. The displayed portion of the message body 1118 shows amessage text 1120 and an embedded version of the attachment 1122 that isa low resolution image. Part of the message body 1118 that is notinitially displayed in the application view 1104 can be displayedfollowing a scrolling gesture 1124. This scrolling gesture 1124 isapplied in a direction substantially perpendicular to the text lines ofthe displayed text message, as shown in FIG. 11A. Applying thisscrolling gesture displays other non-displayed portion of the emailmessage 1106B in the message section 1110, for example the remainingpart of the displayed low resolution image and any other inline embeddedlow resolution images included in the attachment. Once other portions ofthe email message 1106B are displayed in the message section 1110reversing the direction of the scrolling gesture displays the portion ofthe message that precedes the currently displayed portion.

The attachment information 1116 includes the UI element 1126 thatincludes a link to the location of the attachment(s) on the cloud server510. The displayed UI element 1126 shows the expiration date of the linkand UI download element 1128 that is indicative of the download statusof the attachment from the cloud server. The expiration date is the datestarting on which the cloud server will refuse any request from theemail client module for downloading the attachment. The UI downloadelement 1128 indicates the status of attachment on the cloud server 510,for example whether the attachment is still available for downloading,whether the attachment has previously been downloaded, whether the linkhas expired, or during downloading what percentage of the attachment hasreceived by the email client module. As illustrated in FIG. 11A, the UIdownload element 1128 indicates the attachment is still available fordownloading and that the link has not expired. In one embodiment, theattachment information 1116 includes information regarding the downloaddestination and the type of attachment. The download destination is thelocation at which the client email module 140 stores the downloadedattachment, for example the “Camera Roll.”

FIG. 11B-11D illustrates a download gesture in the application view 504associated with the message section 1110, according to some embodiments.The download gesture is executed by a contact 1130 a on the UI downloadelement 1128 as shown in FIG. 11B. In another embodiment, the contact1130 b be on an embedded version of the attachment, e.g. a lowresolution image, as shown in FIG. 11B. FIGS. 11C and 11D illustrateadditional download gestures including contact 1130, when the attachmentto be retrieved from the cloud server 510 includes files other thanimages, e.g. a portable document file or archive files, or a mixture offile types.

Responsive to the download gesture with contact 1110 detected by thedevice 100, the email client module 140 sends a request to the cloudserver 510 to retrieve the attachment by dereferencing the link to thelocation of the attachment on the cloud server. The email client modulethen retrieves the attachment from the cloud server 510, unless theexpiration date 1126 for attachment has expired. In response toretrieving the attachment, the email client module updates the validityinformation of the link to indicate that the attachment has beenretrieved from the cloud server, according to one embodiment.Alternatively, if the attachment consists of only photos, the updatedvalidity information indicates that the attachment is still availablefor downloading from the cloud server, unless the expiration date hasexpired. Upon successfully downloading the attachment the email clientmodule 140 stores the updated validity information and the attachment atlocations provided by the module 140. Furthermore, the email clientmodule 140 stores the email message associated with the downloadedattachment. When storing the email message the module 140 stores theattachment by embedding the attachment inline the stored email message.

FIG. 12 illustrates a sequence 1-5 of UI download elements 1210indicating the download status of the attachment from the cloud serverto a device on which the email client module locally stores theattachment. In one embodiment, the attachment includes one or morephotos are received from the cloud server by the image management module144 in the download process. Upon receiving the photos, the imagemanagement module 144 stores them at specified location on the device,e.g. the “camera roll,” which is accessible by other applications. UIdownload element 1210 a represents the start of the download processwith the display of the empty circle indicating that no percentage ofthe attachment has been downloaded by the email client module. UIdownload element 1210 b-1210 d with an increasing circular segmentvisibly distinguished from the empty circle indicates that a percentageof the attachment has been downloaded. In one embodiment, the displayedratio of the filled circular segment to the entire circle isproportional to the downloaded percentage of the attachment. In anotherembodiment, an UI progress bar is displayed in addition to the UIdownload element. After the UI download elements 1210 e indicates theentire attachment has been downloaded, the UI download element 1210 e isreplaced by the element 1210 f to indicate that the attachment is stillavailable for downloading if the expiration date has no passed.Alternatively, the UI download element 1210 e is replaced by an element(not shown) indicating that the attachment has been successfullydownloaded. In one embodiment, after successfully downloading theattachment, the UI download element changes to an element 1314 thatindicates that the attachment is no longer available for additionaldownloads as shown FIG. 13C. In yet another embodiment of therecipient's email client module, the UI download element is static anddoes not change over time.

FIGS. 13A-13C illustrate an application view 1104 of an emailapplication displaying email messages updates of the UI element 1310when downloading from the cloud server 510 or after expiration of theattachment, according to some embodiments. As illustrated in FIG. 13A,the UI element 1310 includes text 1312 and UI download element 1314indicative of the email client module 140 being in the process ofdownloading the attachment, whereas FIGS. 13B and 13C illustrate the UIelement 1310 and corresponding text message 1312 and UI download element1314 when the link of the location of the attachment on the cloud serverhas expired. Any links 1316 embedded in the body of the message forattachment, e.g. links associated with the embedded low resolutionimages or icons representing files including, but not limited toportable document or archive files, point to the location of thedownloaded attachment. In case of the corresponding photo or file hasnot previously been successfully downloaded prior to the expiration datethe links 1316 are removed from the email message.

FIGS. 14A-14C illustrate an application view 1404 of an emailapplication displaying gestures for forwarding an email message with anattachment and an embedded UI element 1410, according to someembodiments. In response to contact 1420 on a reply element of themessage section 1410, as shown in FIG. 14A, the device 100 displays areply sheet 1422 for reply options. As illustrated in FIG. 14B, thesereply option may include the following actions to take with the emailmessage 1406B: reply, reply all, forward, and print, according to oneembodiment. The reply options are not limited to these actions. Inresponse to contact 1422 on the forward element of the reply sheet 1422,the device 100 displays an include sheet 1426 for attachment optionsthat may include the following actions to take with the attachment ofthe forwarded email message 1406B: include or don't include, accordingto the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 14C. As when composing an emailmessage, responsive to the contact 1428 that selects to include theattachment, the email client module 140 provides a sheet 1010 of sendoptions for sending the email message including the attachment as shownin FIGS. 10A and 10B. Forwarding the email message with the attachmentby using the cloud server involves the same steps as described abovewith respect to FIGS. 9 and 10A-10D. FIG. 15 shows an application 1504for composing the forwarded email message similar to the one shown inFIG. 8B.

FIGS. 16A-16C illustrate an application view 1604 of an emailapplication displaying email messages forwarded with attachments usingthe cloud server 510, according to some embodiments. In case offorwarding the message without including any new attachment, the UIelement 1612 displays the same information as the UI element 1510 of theoriginal message. In this case, the email client server 140 does notsend a request for uploading of the original attachment to the cloudserver, even in the case that the original attachment has expired on thecloud server. In case of new attachment to the forwarded email message,the email client server 140 provides the user with the option of sendingthe attachment through the cloud server as described with respect toFIGS. 8A, 8B and 9. The UI element 1618 represents the validityinformation for the new attachment, whereas the UI element 1612 refersto the original attachments as shown in FIG. 16C. The steps of sendingthe new attachment using the cloud server are the same as describedabove with respect to FIG. 9.

The disclosure herein has been described in particular detail withrespect to one possible embodiment. Those of skill in the art willappreciate that other embodiments may be practiced. First, theparticular naming of the components and variables, capitalization ofterms, the attributes, data structures, or any other programming orstructural aspect is not mandatory or significant, and the mechanismsthat implement the invention or its features may have different names,formats, or protocols. Also, the particular division of functionalitybetween the various system components described herein is merelyexemplary, and not mandatory; functions performed by a single systemcomponent may instead be performed by multiple components, and functionsperformed by multiple components may instead performed by a singlecomponent.

Some portions of above description present features in terms ofalgorithms and symbolic representations of operations on information.These algorithmic descriptions and representations are the means used bythose skilled in the data processing arts to most effectively convey thesubstance of their work to others skilled in the art. These operations,while described functionally or logically, are understood to beimplemented by computer programs. Furthermore, it has also provenconvenient at times, to refer to these arrangements of operations asmodules or by functional names, without loss of generality.

Unless specifically stated otherwise as apparent from the abovediscussion, it is appreciated that throughout the description,discussions utilizing terms such as “determining” or “displaying” or thelike, refer to the action and processes of a computer system, or similarelectronic computing device, that manipulates and transforms datarepresented as physical (electronic) quantities within the computersystem memories or registers or other such information storage,transmission or display devices.

Certain aspects of the embodiments disclosed herein include processsteps and instructions described herein in the form of an algorithm. Itshould be noted that the process steps and instructions could beembodied in software, firmware or hardware, and when embodied insoftware, could be downloaded to reside on and be operated fromdifferent platforms used by real time network operating systems.

The algorithms and operations presented herein are not inherentlyrelated to any particular computer or other apparatus. Variousgeneral-purpose systems may also be used with programs in accordancewith the teachings herein, or it may prove convenient to construct morespecialized apparatus to perform the required method steps. The requiredstructure for a variety of these systems will be apparent to those ofskill in the art, along with equivalent variations. In addition, thepresent invention is not described with reference to any particularprogramming language. It is appreciated that a variety of programminglanguages may be used to implement the teachings of the presentinvention as described herein, and any references to specific languagesare provided for invention of enablement and best mode of the presentinvention.

The embodiments disclosed herein are well suited to a wide variety ofcomputer network systems over numerous topologies. Within this field,the configuration and management of large networks includes storagedevices and computers that are communicatively coupled to dissimilarcomputers and storage devices over a network, such as the Internet.

Finally, it should be noted that the language used in the specificationhas been principally selected for readability and instructionalpurposes, and may not have been selected to delineate or circumscribethe inventive subject matter. Accordingly, the disclosure herein isintended to be illustrative, but not limiting, of the scope of theinvention, which is set forth in the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method comprising: receiving a request to send the email message; responsive to receiving the request, determining whether the size of the attachment exceeds a threshold; responsive to determining that the size exceeds the threshold, sending a request to a server for uploading the attachment to the server; responsive to receiving a positive confirmation from the server to the uploading request, providing an option to upload the attachment to the server and to embed in the email message a link to the location of the attachment on the server; and responsive to selecting the upload and embed option, adding an UI element and a version of the attachment to the email message before sending the email message, the UI element comprising the link to the location of the attachment on the cloud server, and the version having a size smaller than the threshold.
 2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising: responsive to sending the email message, uploading the attachment to a location on the server, the location referenced by the link embedded in the email message.
 3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the UI element further comprises an expiration date when the attachment is deleted from the server.
 4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the size of the attachment is compared to a maximum storage size that is larger than the threshold; and responsive to size exceeding the maximum storage, denying the uploading request to the cloud server.
 5. A computer-implemented method of sending an email message including an attachment, the method comprising: receiving a request to store the attachment of the email message; responsive to receiving the request, determining whether the size of the attachment exceeds a threshold; in accordance with a determination that the size does not exceed the threshold, calculating storage space at a location that is configured to store the attachment, the calculation based on storage parameters; in accordance with a determination that the storage space is sufficient to store the attachment, sending a first confirmation, the first confirmation comprising a link to the location and validity information of the link.
 6. The computer-implemented method of claim 5, further comprising: responsive to sending the first confirmation, receiving a query requesting a status of the link.
 7. The computer-implemented method of claim 5, further comprising: determining whether the link continues to be valid; and in accordance with a determination that the link continues to be valid, sending a second confirmation, the second confirmation comprising an update to the validity information.
 8. A computer-implemented method comprising: receiving an email message comprising a link to a location of an attachment associated with the email message on a server and validity information of the link; responsive to an action opening the email message, determining whether the link is valid using the validity information; responsive to an action selecting the link to the location of the attachment and in accordance with a determination that the link is valid, sending a request to the server to retrieve the attachment; retrieving the attachment from the server; and responsive to retrieving the attachment, updating the validity information of the link to indicate that the attachment has been retrieved from the server, and storing the email message with the updated validity information and with the attachment being embedded within the email message.
 9. A computer-implemented method comprising: receiving an email message comprising a link to a location of an attachment associated with the email on a server and validity information of the link; responsive to receiving selection of the link to the location of the attachment and the link being valid, sending a request to the server to retrieve the attachment; and in accordance with the determination that the attachment has been retrieved from the server, updating the visible indication of the validity status to indicate that the attachment has been retrieved from the server.
 10. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 or claim 5, further comprising: responsive to an action opening the email message in a message view, determining the validity status of the link; and in accordance with the determination of the validity status of the link, providing a visible indication of the validity status to a user.
 11. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium including instructions to perform the method of claim 1 or claim 5 or claim 8 or claim
 9. 12. A device including instructions for performing the method of claim 1 or claim 5 or claim 8 or claim
 9. 13. A device including means for performing the method of claim 1 or claim 5 or claim 8 or claim
 9. 